Possibilities: The Game
by Violet Enigma
Summary: Isabela has a plan to break free of her boredom, a plan that will embarrass Hawke (F). Part of my "Possibilities" one-shots, which will eventually turn into a linear tale once the muses stop bouncing me all around the story.


Disclaimer: Dragon Age is owned by Bioware, I just like to hang.

Isabela sat at her normal spot at the bar in the Hanged Man, surrounded by the usual men trying to win her "affections" for the night, and she was bored. She kept up her flirtations, because let it never be said that Isabela would lose her reputation to boredom. Just when she was about to sigh and give up she noticed the Hawke siblings enter the bar and head to the back corner to take up their usual table for the misfits.

_Now this could be fun,_ Isabela thought to herself. She knew that Carver would be just like the men surrounding her, but Hawke…she was another matter. She was beautiful in her own right, but she had the distinct feeling she was "untouched" as it were. _Just like Merrill_ she mused, _but different._ Where she felt an overwhelming need to protect Merrill from the world, she felt no such compulsion towards Hawke.

She watched Hawke take her usual seat in the corner, and Carver took one on the opposite side of the table. He must have heard about her letting Feynriel go to the Dalish instead of the circle and he looked a bit peeved at his older sister. It wasn't long before Anders showed up and took a seat next to Hawke's left. That was Isabela's cue, normally Fenris sat on her other side, but in order for her plan to work out, she had to sit next to Hawke. With a quick "sorry boys," she made her way to the table and ignored Carver's hurt look when she didn't take her customary seat next to him but sat next to Hawke.

"So Ravaini, tired of all the glowing words already?" Varric inquired. "Usually you let them hunt for your affections a little longer before you join us."

"Varric, the sign of any good rogue is that the prey doesn't know they are being hunted," Isabela quipped, a mischievous gleam in her eyes.

Varric noticed the gleam in her eye, and her unusual spot at the table and just chuckled before starting to deal out the cards. It wasn't long until Merrill and Fenris also joined the group. Fenris shot Isabela a dirty look for taking his normal spot, but then sat down between Carver and Varric without a further word.

As the night progressed, and the drinks were consumed and Isabela began to set her plans in motion.

"So Hawke, growing up in Lothering, were you able to get to town much?" Isabela asked innocently. "I bet it could be quite boring out on the farm all day."

"No, when I was young it was mostly Father's job to take care of business in town, when he was still alive of course. After his death, Carver and Mother went to town when we needed supplies. It was hard to mask our magic ability growing up so as a precaution we stayed away."

"Did you _ever_ get to go to town, sweetness?"

"Bethany and I very rarely went to town. Lothering, though small, had too many templars since the chantry was the largest building in town. As a result, we kept our distance and only went into town during festivals when mages were brought in to perform magic as entertainment. It was easier to mask our magic then, since other mages were about."

"That must have been very lonely," Isabela commented patting Hawke's leg under the table.

"I suppose it was," Hawke said with a shrug. "But it was a price I was more than willing to pay to be free of the circle."

Isabela let the conversation die down there for a bit. Letting other's initiate conversations for a few hands. Before she went right back in again:

"So if you never went to town, I don't imagine you had any umm…'companionship,'" Isabela smirked, seeing Carver groan and bury his head behind his cards shaking his head back and forth. She also noticed how Fenris and Anders perked up, wanting to know the answer which made it very hard not to chuckle out loud and ruin the whole thing.

"That is none of your business!" Hawke stammered, turning a very pretty shade of pink, which made Varric chuckle.

"Oh sweetness, but it is," Isabela purred, moving her chair closer to Hawke. "If our fair leader is tense from sexual tension we all suffer."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Carver groaned again in frustration.

"After all Hawke, it's been more than a month since I offered you my company," Isabela continued inching even closer to Hawke. "You'll find I can be a very, _very_ good teacher."

Isabela brought a hand up to touch Hawke's face that was growing redder and redder with embarrassment as the conversation continued. When she actually touch Hawke's face, she jumped up, landing in Anders' lap, much to her continued chagrin and his evident pleasure, judging from the grin on his face.

"Umm, I have to go," Hawke said after getting off Anders' lap, but stuck in the corner she had no way to leave. "Please Anders, let me go."

"Oh no," Anders laughed. "I'm enjoying this too much. You're cute when you turn pink."

"I…I…" Hawke tried to stammer, completely lost on how to get out from the corner.

The whole table erupted in laughter, with the exception of Merrill and Carver. Merrill just looked lost, and Carver was trying very hard to look pissed on behalf of his sister. Looking dejected, Hawke sat down timidly, which only made the table laugh harder, even her brother joined in this time.

"I don't get it," Merrill piped up. "What's so funny? Did I miss something dirty again?"

"Well Daisy," Varric began, trying to explain as simply as possible. "Do you know how you always have questions about Isabela's past and her experiences with men?"

"Yes, her stories are always fascinating." Merrill nodded, looking excited.

"Not all of Ravaini's stories involve men," Varric continued to explain. "Sometimes she's been with women too."

"Oh," Merrill whispered. "So? What does this have to do with Hawke?"

"Isabela is offering her experience to Hawke, but Hawke's never been with anyone before," Varric finished. "Thus her embarrassment."

"Oh, she should just do it." Merrill finally piped in after thinking it over. "It's not that hard really, even I've done it."

With those words, the whole table erupted in laughter again. Hawke was positively mortified and sank down to sit on the floor. Seeing a way out, even though the floor was covered in muck, Hawke scrambled under the table to the other side where she stood up, dusted her hands off, and fled out of the tavern into the night. Isabela felt a twinge of guilt at Hawke's fleeing figure but the laughter over-rid the guilt and she raised her mug to the now closed door.

"You know Ravaini," Varric spoke up after the laughter died down, "You'll be paying for that later."

"Oh I know Varric," Isabela smiled, wiping tears of laughter from her eyes. "But it was too much fun to pass up."


End file.
